The present invention resolves several issues. Liquid and solid wastes produced from oil and gas wells are processed at a salt water waste disposal site to separate oil, salt water and radioactive materials. In this process waste products are pumped through what is known as a “filter sock”, a nylon mesh device which traps solids yet allows salt water, oil and other liquids to flow through for further treatment. Filter socks collect naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORMs) and other particulate matter, including hydrocarbons; hence the socks must be closely monitored and changed as needed.
The problem then arises with what to do with the engorged radioactive filter socks and their contents because disposal of these wastes is highly regulated. All states currently prohibit disposal of the filters in landfill sites because of the environmental hazards posed by NORMs, hydrocarbons and chemicals which may have been used in the different production processes. Some states, for example, North Dakota, prohibit disposal of used filter socks in their state altogether, thereby requiring oil production companies to transport contaminated filter socks to neighboring states that do allow proper disposal. Filter socks must be properly manifested before transport and cataloged in at the receiving facility where they will be stored ad infinitum. Any incident which compromises environmental safety during the transport or storage of the contaminated materials or actual compromise of the disposal site, releasing hazardous NORMs, chemicals, and/or crude oil could cause oil companies considerable financial liability for site cleanup and restoration.
The present invention, is specifically designed to alleviate several major areas of concern, i.e., to clean oilfield waste filtration socks expediently, to separate hazardous and potentially toxic substances from reclaimable hydrocarbons trapped within the filter, and to alleviate costs and risks associated with transport and storage of hazardous materials. Once the filtration socks have been cleaned they are able to be ground up into particles with size between 4 mm and 6.35 mm. The ground filtration socks can be mixed with a proprietary formula for lost circulation material which is used in the drilling process. In the drilling process, the particles within proprietary formula mixture are used to control the loss of drilling fluids from fractures in the earth. The particles fill the voids of the fractures preventing the loss of expensive drilling fluids due to different formations.